Drying apparatus with a solvent-recovery function, and a method for drying solvent recovery

Abstract

A drying apparatus with a vaporized-solvent-recovery function including: a concentration-at-the-end-of-drying data memorizing device to memorize a concentration of a vaporized solvent at the end of a drying operation of an object to be dried in a processing path; a vaporized solvent; an end-of-drying judging device to judge an end of drying of the object by comparing the concentration measured by the vaporized-solvent-concentration measuring device with the concentration memorized by the concentration-at-the-end-of-drying data memorizing device; and a drying-operation controlling device to control the drying operation of the object in a processing bath and to end the drying operation in response to a judgement by the end-of-drying judging device that the concentration measured by the vaporized-solvent-concentration measuring device is equal to the concentration memorized in then concentration-at-the-end-of-drying data memorizing device.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is on the basis of Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-191266, the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to a drying apparatus with a solvent-recovery function to recover a vaporized solvent from a dried object in a bath, and a method for drying solvent recovery.BACKGROUND[0003]In the cleaning industry, a solvent such as a cleaning fluid remaining in a cleaned object (dried object) may not only become a source origin of the volatile organic compound (VOC) to worsen a working environment, but also cause a chemical burn when wearing the cleaned object. Therefore, cleaned objects are sufficiently dried, and classified.[0004]In a case of a drying apparatus not with a vaporized-solvent-recovery function of volatized solvent, the solvent volatized from the cleaning object is exhausted outside. However, it is known that an emission volume of VOC can be re...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

In the cleaning industry, a solvent such as a cleaning fluid remaining in a cleaned object (dried object) may not only become a source origin of the volatile organic compound (VOC) to worsen a working environment, but also cause a chemical burn when wearing the cleaned object.

However, in a case that a limonene which is low cost, has low toxicity on the human body, and has bactericidal effects is used as the solvent, because a lemon-like odor of the limonene is remained in the cleaned object when the cleaning object is half dried, the drying time of the conventional drying apparatus with a vaporized-solvent-recovery function is sufficiently long for fully vaporizing the solvent.

Therefore, the cleaned object is generally dried too much, and may be damaged.

Further, in a case that the solvent is limonene, because the limonene is flammable, the drying time cannot be long, so that the cleaned object may be half dried.

In this case, there is a problem that the recovery rate of the solvent is reduced.

Such a problem is not limited to the cleaning industry, but the overall drying apparatus in which the vaporized solvent is recovered in a drying operation.

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